The second-day invasion was about to begin and both the Hunters and the low-ranking soldiers thought the worst was over.
The Beasts coming their way were far fewer and looked far less eager to suicide rush them. They just calmly stared at the stronghold, as every last one of them got into position.
The high-ranking soldiers and the more intelligent Hunters, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to run away from the horror that was about to befall them.
The beast today was mostly in the Third Rank. And among them, there were Fourths and Fifths. The reason they weren't attacking wasn't that they had a smaller army today, it was that, unlike the first day, today the humans would be facing a fully sentient army.
Not only that, but the quality of each member of the animal army would be leagues above what they had seen before. Ranks Nine and Ten would stay out of it today, but everyone else was fair game.
Today even Archmages were at risk of dying, and just like every Beast Tide in history, today was going to be a tragedy.
"Are you ready Silver? Stay next to me at all times." Ciaran told Diana, as they stared down the countless eyes looking at them.
Today too the Mages would be a target for the beasts, but the humans had learned. Not only had they not reprimanded Diana, but they also assigned most Hunters on guard duty for the backline.
Today the army needed to be in sync, and their disposable meatshields would just get in the way. People like the priest and the pugilist were still at the front tho. Those two in particular were irreplaceable even for the army.
The pugilist was like an unstoppable meat grinder. Everywhere he went blood and gore followed. The priest was a first-class healer, and right now they needed even the worst of practitioners of the healing arts.
"Don't worry peasants, today you shall witness true greatness." Franklin Hemperyngs said.
He was the prince assigned to this stronghold, and he had brought with him his personal knights.
The prince himself was a Rank Six, but all of his knights were at the Seventh, and two were even in the Eight. They all wore golden armor symbolizing not only the Empire but also their master's element, the Sun.
Every legitimate royal was a Sun element user, or more accurately said, every Sun user with royal blood was legitimate.
This particular prince was in his late fifties and had amassed quite the following. He had many low-ranked subordinates, but of the ones that truly mattered in a fight he had only these precious few.
'I need to score some points today so that my claim for the golden throne strengthens.' Franklin thought and stepped forward.
"Come you mongrows, come and die for your arrogance. Let me show you, as well as all of my subjects, the power of the Empire." He said as he unleashed a small solar flair.
It was enough to taunt the beasts, but not enough to make them move.
The prince took it as a sign they were intimidated and screamed at them more. Shockingly, this actually calmed down the rest of the humans, as even when the man was needlessly loud, they still had not moved.
'Let me guess, your favorite brother?' Ciaran asked via their mind link.
'No, but he is up there. Top four at least. I know he looks like a fool, and he is, but at least he only tried to kill me openly. The rest are either snakes, actually able to kill me, or worst. Don't forget the Imperial family likes to keep the bloodline pure.' She answered.
At that, the boy looked at the prince again. All anyone could see was a man looking up at a royal. His mask didn't allow people to see his face. He was giving the annoying prince a look that would make most of the beast pity the fool.
Ciaran had experienced envy before, but this was different.
'Just the thought of these royal pigs touching my girl…' He thought as the Storm was getting ready to backstab the fool.
Diana grabbed his hand and pulled him in for a hug. To the onlooker, it looked like she was comforting her partner after yesterday's trauma, but some of the Hunters were all too familiar with the duo.
"There he goes again, I am so glad Silver is back, or the soul eater would have probably gone on a rampage by now." One of them said.
Ciaran had even earned himself a Name, a Dyrta-given one. Most people didn't know how that worked, but whenever someone did something special, the planet named them. Everyone instinctively knew his Name, unless the boy himself wished otherwise.
Named were usually the stuff of both legends and nightmares. And the boy was no legend, at least not yet, and not to their knowledge.
As Diana was restraining the boy, debating with herself if she should argue she was 'his girl', and the Hunters had begun gossiping, the ground started to shake.
'Earth spells?' The humans all questioned in unison. To their distress it was not, it was a hundred giant moose coming their way.
Each stronghold got about five of the Titans. All of them were just Rank Five, but their sheer size was enough to cause panic.
Herbavours, especially the big fellas usually did not participate in tides, as they had no reason to. The human territory was not sustainable for them to live in. But this time they were here, and the humans had to endure.
The problem was that the colossal beasts were all Earth element users, and they had covered themselves in stone. If they attacked the stronghold with their strength it would have been nothing special.
Those buildings were made to last even a fight between powerhouses, the current beast army couldn't even scratch them.
But they weren't here to fight, they were just acting as transportation. They carried hundreds of beasts with them, allowing the animals to cross the walls.
If the moose reached the stronghold, the humans would have to bring out the big guns, and the day was just starting.
"Mages, take them down!" The prince ordered, but not a single person moved.
"You don't get to order my man brat, now step down, or you're getting off my wall" The General spat on the ground, right between Franklin's shoes.
The whole fortress laughed, and the prince obediently left his position. There were few dumber ways to die, than defying a General's direct order.
"Mages, target them one at a time. Focus on the left, and move on to the right, try to-
Ciaran lost control of his Storm and unleashed it upon his target.
The animal was ready for distractive spells, but the Storm wasn't in the mood for playing fair. It went into the animal's nostrils and raged inside its organs. Within ten seconds, the beast was dead, and it fell, crushing a few hundred beasts with it.
The other four understood what happened and walled off all the holes the Storm could have crowed in from.
The human side was speechless.
"We start from the left and kill the four as we move to the right… And ah, good job kid." The General didn't like being interrupted, but this Mage alone already did more than he expected from them combined.
The Mages were cheering, until they felt the enormous amount of life energy the boy now had at his disposal. They had seemed to forget his Name, and they had a rude awakening.
Scared to be next on his chopping block, they all started firing at the animals. All kinds of elements were flying on the battlefield, from both sides. The Mages wanted the giants dead, and the beasts were defending them.
The soldiers were ready to step in, but before the beast crossed the half-point one more of the beast died.
The soldiers got into formation, but before they could jump into the warzone, the prince and his knights moved out.
Despite his hubris, the man was competent enough to use his elite group to show off.
"Great work me subjects, leave the rest to me." He said and started a march against the three remaining moose.
He drew out his blade and stroked at the first. Along with him, the rest of the knights also stroked the animal.
The beasts were tough for their rank, but the knights were far above their level. The prince turned around to gloat, but before he could, two balls were thrown behind him.
He looked back and saw a cat playing with the headless bodies of two of his knights.
"If you want to start things for real, it can be arranged, but I say let's let the kids play for now." It said, at the Generals.
The prince was about to attack it, but his knights dragged him away.
He was fuming, but when he realized his strongest retainers had just died, he ran faster than them.